Announcing... my free, "open source" comedy book

Today, I unveil my new series of free books known as the MoJo Quarterly. I published a "real" book in 2004 and have sold about 1,000 in the past two years. With the new books, I'm taking an "open source" approach to publishing. How fast can I reach 1,000 distributed? I just want people to read it. The money will come later.

Below, I explain what a MoJo is, why the book is free, how you're allowed to use it and how you friggin GET it! If you're super impatient, just get it now

What's a MoJo?

"MoJos" are what I call "momentary jokes" or jokes that are current events-based and fade with time. For example:

"New research shows that 56 percent of Americans take at least one prescription drug, which means the other 44 percent suffer needlessly from erectile dysfunction, obesity and feelings."

What's in this book?

The first book, Keep Jerry Falwell Away From My Oreo Cookies, contains over 100 MoJos and seven essays that readers helped select during January 2006. The essays include:

How do you say "Yes, Massa" in Chinese?

I'll be a Black conservative for $240,000 dollars

A final solution for the religious right... but not in a holocaust-y way

and more...

Nearly 50 people helped select which essays would go in the book based on my web survey, so thanks to all of you.

Why quarterly?

The goal is to put out three quarterly versions plus a year-in-review edition each year. I'm constantly writing MoJos and essays / articles / columns, so this is a good way to keep the publications current.

What do you mean free? What is this "open source"?

First, it means that the book is free. No charge. Zero dollars or euros or kopeks or rand. It's like Linux for my comedy material.

Second, it means I encourage you to...

copy, distribute, display and perform the work

make derivative works

...provided you ATTRIBUTE THE WORK TO ME, your actions are NON-COMMERCIAL and you SHARE YOUR DERIVATIONS WITH THE SAME CONDITIONS. For attribution, I prefer "baratunde.com" but will accept another form if you run it by me first.

If you want to use the material for commercial purposes, please contact me via publishing-at-kinglycompanion.com

Why have you chosen free?

Because I have nothing to lose. At this point in my career, I don't need the $3 - $5 per book sold. What I really need is for people to know and love my material. The money will come later and in other forms. Pay me to come to your college or host your event, for example. I'm really good. Check out some of my YouTube videos

I do also accept Paypal donations if you want to toss me a few bucks for making you laugh for free:

I just want the work out there, and I can't do that all by myself. So, I want you to download the book, email it to your friends, post my jokes on your bulletin board at the office or sell coffee mugs with MoJos on them.

Now, let me talk about the non-commercial piece. I'm not against people making money off my material. I just want to be able to keep track of it and possibly get a small percentage cut. If you have ideas for commercial use of MoJo Quarterly material, please contact me via publishing-at-kinglycompanion.com. I'll allow it on a case-by-case basis.

I will also be distributing print copies, for free, at all of my standup gigs and other public appearances such as Drinking Liberally, and I will leave copies in select locations, starting in the Boston area, such as cafes, barbershops and Homeland Security waiting rooms. You can check my public calendar for dates and locations to grab a copy. Let me know in advance, and I'll make sure to reserve one for you.

If you'd like to print copies to distribute yourself, contact me, and I'll send you the booklet-designed print file along with instructions for assembly (i.e. trim lines, print layout settings, etc).

How can I tell you how tight this idea is?

Leave a comment on this article. I'll be watching, and if you have feedback, ideas, suggestions or hate-filled vitriol, you can leave that here too.